Organizational culturein private higher education: a case study of a new private universityin post-soviet azerbauan

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Ray McGHEE

group members, culture in higher education institutes is framed in people's minds, making it difficult for all group members to agree on the meaning of what constitutes culture (Allaire & Firsirotou, 1984). Nevertheless, during periods of change and instability, culture can provide the stability that group members need and contribute to the effectiveness of the mstitution (Smircich, 1983).

The culture of the enterprise is one type of academic culture that individual universities create and exemplify by their claims to uniqueness and sense of common goals. Clark describes how the institutional symbols that form the culture of enterprise have tremendous bonding power. Clark's (1970, 1972) study of the institutional culmre of the private American liberal arts college reveals that the successful institutions had a well-integrated self-belief, a saga that provided "a collective understanding of current instimtional character that refers to a historical struggle and is embellished emotionally and loaded with meaning..." (Clark, 1983, p. 83). This organizational saga serves to define an institution's beliefs, foster a sense of community, provide meaning to common struggle, and to create loyalty among its members. Although these ideologies are not without their dangers, Clärk acknowledges the central role over time of the many integrating symbols that help an enterprise compete for extemal attention and recognition as well as intemal division. The concept of belief has important implications for the study of the institutional culmre of a private university like that of Khazar in Azerbaijan.

The organizational saga of an instimtion provides a convenient starting point for analyzing the institutional distinctiveness of private universities in Azerbaijan with that of the more established state universities. Townsend et al. (1992) postulate a definition of institutional distinctiveness that considers shared institutional values essential to those in and outside of the institution. They define distinctiveness as "a phenomenon resulting from a common set of values that shape institutional activities and unite key constituencies, both intemal and extemal" (p. 10). Distinctiveness and organizational culture are inextricably linked as an institution embraces activities consistent with its values and acts to exclude those activities

inconsistent with its institutional values. The link between institutional distinctiveness and the quality of the institution also comes into play, especially in evaluating the programs and group members of different institutions.

The review of social theory and relevant theories of the post-communist transition frames this study in light of recent debates about transition and the nature of change in the former Soviet Union. This macro level of analysis is important because of the context in which this examination is framed. From this discussion, the concepts of modemity and postmodemity, although vigorously contested, shed significant insight on the social changes rapidly occurring in the former Soviet Union. Zygmunt Bauman's (1992; 1994) views of postmodernity and analysis of how the former Soviet Union's version of a failed modemity and its inability to recognize the pluralism and diversity that exists in the world is compelling and sheds some light on the intemal disintegration and fragmentation of the Soviet Communist state and the uncertainty that is being faced by new republics like Azerbaijan. A postmodern view of social change in post-Soviet Azerbaijan would help to account for the new social arrangements that have emerged as it integrates with the rest of the region and with the diversity in the world around it. Although I do not espouse all aspects of the post-modem worldview, this moderate embrace of certain features (e.g. recognition of pluralism, respect for local knowledge) of Bauman's concepmalization of post-modemity will provide useful insights into past and current social arrangements for Azerbaijan.

The concept of patron-client relations is a salient feature of formerly socialist societies like the former Soviet Union. In Azerbaijan, where the transition from a centrally controlled economy to a free market one continues, clientelistic networks from the Soviet era remain vitally important in distributing goods, benefits, and influence in politics as well as education, the arts, and business. The role of these networks will play a central role in determining the character of the organizational culture and the forms that emerge in governing the institution at the local level. As an alternative form of civil society, patron-client relations provides insights into how educational institutions operate in promoting ideological and